Are Squirrels Dangerous?
Are Squirrels Dangerous?
Squirrels scurrying across fences and along tree branches are a very common sight for homeowners in Westchester County. Squirrels can be spotted running across rooftops and getting close to porches and decks. While squirrels may look cute, the damage they do to your home and the diseases they can spread are anything but.
Squirrels can tear out your attic insulation and chew through wires, creating a fire risk. Squirrels can also spread diseases like tularemia, as well as parasites like ticks and fleas. If you need squirrels trapped and removed from your attic in Westchester, contact the experts at Westchester Wildlife today to get started at (800) 273-6673!
Why Squirrels Invade Homes
Squirrels are looking for the same thing that all living creatures need to survive: food, water, and shelter. Your attic space provides a perfect place for squirrels to nest, as it is safe, warm, secluded, and protected against predators and the elements. Trees or bird feeders may provide a source of food to hungry squirrels, and your wall voids can provide a spot for squirrels to stash their food for retrieval during the winter months.
When getting inside your house, squirrels will exploit any cracks, gaps, or weak spots they can find, usually on damaged soffits, ridge vents, or weakened/missing roof shingles. Squirrels can even enter through your chimney. Once the squirrels have gotten inside, they will begin wreaking havoc on your home.
How Much Damage Can A Squirrel Do To A House?
Squirrels are small, but they have sharp teeth and claws that enable them to do more damage than you might expect.
- Chewing and Gnawing: squirrels have teeth that never stop growing, which means they need to constantly be gnawing on wooden beams, soffits, and rubber wire coverings to file down their teeth and keep the length manageable.
- Electrical hazards: when squirrels chew on the rubber covering surrounding wires, they can expose the bare wiring to the insulation, which can pose a fire hazard.
- Structural damage: over time, squirrels can weaken attic beams by chewing through them, creating structural instability.
- Insulation problems: squirrels will rip out your insulation to make their nests, and they will also soil it with their urine and droppings
Are Squirrels Dangerous to Humans?
Squirrels are rarely aggressive and prefer to stay out of the way of humans, but if they are cornered or trapped, they may lash out with their claws and teeth. That’s why it’s always best to leave squirrel removal to the professionals. Wildlife professionals will have the tools and equipment to safely remove squirrels without harm to either party.
Squirrels can also spread various diseases, including tularemia, leptospirosis, salmonellosis, and more. Squirrels also carry parasites like ticks and fleas, which can spread Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.
Signs of a Squirrel Infestation
Recognizing the signs of a squirrel infestation can help you get the situation under control faster. Some things to look out for include:
- Scratching or scampering noises coming from inside the attic, typically during the day as squirrels sleep at night
- Chewed and shredded insulation in the attic, or gnaw marks on wooden beams
- Holes in your soffit, missing shingles, bent roof vents
- Smell of droppings or urine coming from the attic
- Squirrels on your roof
What to Do If You Have A Squirrel Problem
If you have a squirrel problem on your property in Westchester, don’t attempt to remove them yourself. Squirrels are unpredictable wild animals, and can become aggressive if threatened, especially when their babies are nearby. Squirrels are also adept at hiding their babies within attic insulation, and you might accidentally leave one behind when evicting a squirrel family. Wildlife removal professionals have the proper tools, training, and equipment to safely and carefully remove squirrels from your home in Westchester.
Animal control typically will not come out to deal with a squirrel infestation in your attic, as they deal with animals on public property like roads and parks, or animals that pose direct threats to people like a rabid raccoon. The best way to solve your squirrel problem is to contact a private wildlife removal service like Westchester Wildlife.
Best Squirrel Removal Service in Westchester
Westchester Wildlife offers the best squirrel removal service in Westchester County. Squirrels are a very destructive nuisance critter that can cause severe damage to your property when they nest inside your attic space. Westchester Wildlife can help, our team will safely remove squirrels, using humane live-traps and exclusion techniques. Our technicians will ensure all baby squirrels are removed with their parents and none are left behind. After the squirrel family is gone, our team can clean up their nesting material and seal off all current and potential entry points, preventing the squirrels from getting back inside in the future. Contact us today to get started with squirrel removal at (800) 273-6673!
The Benefits of Professional Wildlife Removal Services vs DIY Methods
The Benefits of Professional Wildlife Removal Services vs DIY Methods
An unfortunate reality of owning a home is that you have to deal with the occasional pest infestation, or even a wildlife problem. Critters like raccoons, squirrels, bats, and more will break their way into your home, often choosing your attic as a nesting spot. In addition to critters in your attic, scavengers like raccoons, opossums and foxes are known to knock over your outdoor trash cans, throwing trash across the lawn. Groundhogs will burrow underneath your home’s foundation, causing it to crack and settle. Moles will dig tunnels in your lawn, ripping up the grass and destabilizing the soil. When dealing with nuisance wildlife concerns, it’s important to act as quickly as possible, as the problem will not go away with time; it will get worse. When dealing with a nuisance wildlife infestation, many homeowners want to go the DIY route initially. However, wildlife removal presents many challenges and dangers, and should always be left to professionals. If you need nuisance wildlife removal services in Westchester County, Putnam County, or Dutchess County, contact the experts at Westchester Wildlife today for a FREE estimate at (800) 273-6673!
The Risks and Limitations of DIY Wildlife Removal
Removing an animal from your property may sound tempting, but it poses several risks that you might not consider. Raccoons are armed with sharp claws and teeth, and are known to lash out and injure people, especially if they are accompanied by their young. Raccoons are adept at hiding their babies deep inside the insulation, and the untrained eye can miss one or two of the babies when evicting a raccoon family. Raccoons are also a common carrier of the rabies virus.
Bats also carry rabies, and even handling a bat can be counted as a potential rabies exposure. Bats are also endangered and under protection from federal law, and mishandling or killing them can incur serious fees. Skunks are not easy to remove, as they will use their signature spray defense, which causes a horrible odor that is very difficult to get rid of. Squirrels and groundhogs can also become aggressive when cornered, and they can spread diseases like tularemia and leptospirosis. Even removing bat guano can pose a risk, as bat guano contains the spores that cause the fungal lung infection histoplasmosis.
In addition to the safety risks, you might run into limitations when attempting to remove wildlife on your own. Store bought traps can be ineffective if not placed correctly, especially with groundhogs. Many “repellents”, from sprays to flashing light devices and noise makers are either ineffective, or only effective for a short time. Wildlife can adapt to lights and sounds easily, as soon as they realize it doesn’t pose an actual threat.
The Advantages of Hiring a Professional Wildlife Removal Service
Hiring a professional wildlife removal service to deal with your wildlife problem offers several advantages over doing it yourself. Professional wildlife technicians are armed with professional equipment and traps, including proper safety equipment. Professional wildlife removal technicians also ensure that all federal and local laws and ordinances are followed during the process, and that all animals involved are treated humanely. Relying on professional services also minimizes the risk of disease transmission, protecting you from rabies, histoplasmosis, and other zoonotic diseases.
When you hire a nuisance wildlife professional, they can provide you with long term solutions that address the underlying problem. This can involve exclusions, seal-outs, repairing leaks, fixing wildlife damage, and more.
Cost Comparison: DIY vs. Professional Services
Many people jump at the chance to do DIY wildlife removal because it costs less in the short term, but did you know that professional wildlife removal services can actually save you much MORE money in the long run?
DIY efforts may have cheaper upfront costs, but because DIY wildlife removal is often ineffective, you might be stuck paying that cost over and over again. Critters like raccoons are armed with seriously dangerous claws and teeth, and if your attempt to remove a raccoon goes south, you might have to pay for medical bills. If you remove the wildlife from your home or yard improperly, they could come back and create even more structural damage, costing you more money for repairs. Professional wildlife removal services ensure that your wildlife problem is safely dealt with, and your property is safeguarded against future infestations, making it much cheaper in the long run.
When to Call a Professional
Knowing which situations require a wildlife removal professional can save you time and energy. Wildlife professionals are most helpful for dealing with animals that are living on your property or spending lots of time near your property. Raccoons, squirrels and bats living in your attic, a venomous snake in your garden or crawl space, moles tearing up your yard, a skunk building a den under your porch, all of these situations would require a wildlife professional. However, if a raccoon is just simply passing through your yard, or if a squirrel is running across your fence, you can wait it out and see if they stick around before contacting a wildlife removal company. Most of the time, without any food sources or easy shelters, critters in your yard will just move on.
Wildlife removal professionals also do not deal with domestic animals like dogs and cats, or animals that are on public property like roads or parks, as both of these situations are problems for animal control. However, if an animal dies on your property, then dead animal removal does fall under wildlife removal services.
If you need professional wildlife removal in Westchester County, Putnam County, or Dutchess County, contact the experts at Westchester Wildlife. Our team of highly trained wildlife technicians are armed with the tools, training, and experience to safely and humanely remove nuisance critters from your property. Get in touch with our office today to get scheduled at (800) 273-6673!